A former Falmouth mayor and his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary recently with a special surprise party thrown in their honour.

Gerald Symonds, aged 75, is originally from Old Hill and was mayor of Falmouth in 1975.

He and his wife Angela, aged 69, now live in Penryn where they marked 50 years of married life with a party in the Buffs Club last week.

The event was organised by their three sons, Kevin, Nigel and Garry and more than 100 guests from as far afield as Southend, Cheltenham and Plymouth came to wish the couple well.

Garry said: “The surprise was brilliant, |mother was in tears and father was welded to the |spot speechless, which is rarely seen in either of them!”

The guests were a mix of “ballroom dancers, caravanners, family and friends”, said Garry adding that his parents “were themselves ballroom champions in the 90s,” although “these days they are caravanning champions and spend as much time away in the van as they can.”

All three sons are “very proud” of their parents and the party was a great success, Garry said.